Although Maharashtra is a highly industrialized state of India, agriculture continues to be the main occupation in this state too. Since most of the cultivable land is still rain-fed, the Southwest Monsoon season between June and September is critical to the food sufficiency and quality of life in the state. Quite often Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra face monsoon failures leading to increased poverty and a vicious cycle of debt. Under the mission, drought tolerant crops like rosagrass, palmarosa and lemongrass were introduced in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, where these crops now cover an area of more than 150 hectares. Citronella was also introduced in areas having sufficient availabilityt of irrigation water. Ten awareness programmes were conducted in these regions which were attended by around 600 farmers. In the coming months, efforts will be made to introduce high-value crops like geranium and patchouli in some villages of Pune, Nasik and Ratnagiri.